- Bill Belichick was not inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
- Despite the delay, Belichick is still widely expected to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, possibly as soon as 2027.
We’re on to 2027.
Taking his own advice is really all Bill Belichick can do after being passed over for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. Little reason to look back at this point.
He certainly wasn’t in a reflective mood in 2014, when his dynastic New England Patriots lost 41-14 in Week 4 to the pre-Mahomes Kansas City Chiefs under the Monday night spotlight. Belichick’s “We’re on to Cincinnati” mindset produced a resounding 43-17 defeat of the Bengals in Week 5 – and eventually carried the Pats to victory in Super Bowl 49. (It also typified Belichick’s frequently terse interactions with reporters trying to cover the team. But, after all, being a media darling doesn’t help you win Lombardi Trophies or get you into the Hall … unless it actually does?)
In actuality, Belichick actually has a reputation for being helpful to football scribes provided you’re not looking to expose his operation’s state secrets. And he readily granted behind-the-scenes access to NFL Films for profiles of his life and lengthy takeouts of his relationships with the likes of Bill Parcells and Nick Saban – even if it seemed a touch self-serving to allow the league’s mythmaking arm to begin carving his figurative bust.
Still, it’s virtually unthinkable that a significant sub-faction of the Hall’s gatekeepers were out to get him, at least in terms of grinding personal axes by denying him immediate admission. Draw whatever conclusions you want about the likes of Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian, longtime architect of the Indianapolis Colts (mortal enemies of the Patriots) and a few former players who are on the committee – none of them implicated of any wrongdoing even as the Hall issued a reminder Wednesday evening that anyone violating its “selection process bylaws” could be subject to removal from the process in the future.
But trust me, this is a group largely comprised of very trustworthy journalists – none more so than my esteemed long-term colleague Jarrett Bell. (And, ICYMI, JB spent a good chunk of his week digging into this matter and, specifically, shedding new light on the Polian rumors that were part of ESPN’s original reporting.)
But humans make mistakes. Belichick certainly has through the years.
We’re on to 2027.
And maybe the Hall’s voting process will be streamlined or simplified or otherwise improved by next year. Most outside observers have little understanding of how the recently revamped selection process works. Many voters themselves have expressed misgivings about the new procedures. One, Mike Sando, expressed on social media that “unintended consequences” have occurred as voters grapple with the new setup while trying to remain true to their voting convictions.
And, to be clear, they don’t make the ground rules. The Hall’s board of directors – which includes NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, some of the league’s team owners, a handful of Hall of Fame players, and several others – determines the process and altered it in 2024 in a bid to make selection more exclusive. (Last year’s four-member class was the smallest in two decades.)
And what irony that it’s Belichick who’s being ensnared by these recently implemented guidelines − the same coach who knew the league’s rulebook backward and forward and where its less-explored areas were as he sought advantages that his peers had never imagined.
Remember when he had Doug Flutie do a drop kick in 2006, the first time one had been successfully executed in the NFL in 65 years? Or how about the 2014 postseason game against the Baltimore Ravens, when Belichick had running back Shane Vereen report as an ineligible receiver while deploying him in the slot – as if he was going out for a pass – and exploiting a loophole in the rule book? (Meanwhile, a tight end lined up as an offensive tackle could then release on a pass route, causing mass confusion. The Ravens were not amused, and the league quickly closed the loophole.)
And, of course, this is the same Belichick who was fined a record $500,000 for the Patriots’ Spygate scandal in 2007 – whether he thought he was in a legal shade of gray or brazenly operating outside the rules – and was guilty by association amid the Deflategate brouhaha seven years later.
And maybe some voters – maybe, perhaps – felt like those were legitimate grounds to keep Belichick from going in on the first ballot. Maybe, perhaps others were a little too invested in voting for other senior candidates who might not be on the ballot in a year – maybe, perhaps redirecting a vote from Belichick under the assumption he’d coast his way to enshrinement courtesy of other yays he’d doubtless accumulate.
And maybe, perhaps Belichick’s plight, such as it is, spares his longtime quarterback, Tom Brady, from a similar one when he’s eligible for induction in 2028. After all, TB12 wears the same scarlet letters from Spygate and, more so, Deflategate as his coach – to say nothing of losing two Super Bowls to still-unbronzed Eli Manning. Maybe, hopefully none of that gets in the way when it’s time to vote for Brady.
We’re on to 2027.
And maybe, perhaps Belichick will still be coaching the University of North Carolina then – and maybe the Tar Heels will be much better than they were in his Chapel Hill debut. Maybe not – not that a disastrous ACC debut in 2025 should have been disqualifying for him, either.
Maybe, perhaps waiting for a year will serve as a reminder that no process is perfect and that any Hall of Fame has members with asterisks attached. O.J. Simpson remains in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, his life taking its dark turn nearly a decade after he was enshrined. Former players who have been suspended for gambling are in the Hall. Former players who have tested positive for banned substances are in the Hall. Former players who have been convicted of domestic violence are in the Hall. Former players who used Stickum are in the Hall.
Bill Belichick will undoubtedly go into the Hall – and with an asterisk.
Is such a caveat deserved? It’s hard to believe even most casual fans have forgotten about Spygate or the unsparingly gruff approach BB so often employed. Hall of Fame voters certainly haven’t.
But almost no one – even those who don’t qualify as casual fans – is unaware of Belichick’s record (for a head coach) six Lombardi Trophies, if not the two he earned as Parcells’ defensive coordinator for the New York Giants. And maybe not everyone could peg Belichick’s win total at 333, second only to Don Shula (347) in NFL history. But at the end of the day − if not today or this year − who hasn’t heard of Belichick? Who doesn’t consider him – or at least assume – he’s one of the greatest, if not the greatest, NFL coach in history?
And maybe, perhaps 50 years on, some nascent football fan will wonder why Belichick didn’t enter into Canton’s hallowed halls on the first ballot in 2026. Maybe, perhaps that will force him or her to dig into the history of Belichick and the NFL a bit more deeply – which Belichick might even appreciate, just a touch, given what a historian of the league he is.
And indulge a brief history lesson here: Bill Walsh wasn’t a first-ballot Hall of Famer nor, believe it or not, was Vince Lombardi. Vince Freaking Lombardi. It doesn’t detract an iota from their greatness, nor is it a distinction most football followers even make. Five years from now – or maybe one year and five minutes from now – most will assume Belichick flew in on the first ballot, which almost everyone seems to agree he should have anyway.
But in the interim, many shocked and baffled Hall of Fame voters must regroup and recalibrate in something of an embarrassing “Do your job” moment. I truly suspect most, if not at all, meant to do so this time around. I have little doubt they will unanimously − maybe, perhaps? − do so in a year.
We’re on to 2027.
This post appeared first on USA TODAY
